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A  Letter  to  a  s 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #678 

M10b0fl52* 


No.  99. 

A  LETTER  TO  A  SON  IN  CAMP. 


My  Dear  Sox  :  It  may  have  seemed  strange  to  you 
that  a  professing  Christian  father,  so  freely  gave  you,  a 
Christian  son,  to  enlist  in  the  volunteer  service.  My 
reason  was  that  I  regarded  this  as  a  purely  defensive 
war.  Not  only  did  the  Southern  Confederacy  propose  to 
adjust  the  pending  difficulty  by  peaceful  and  equitable 
negotiations,  but  Virginia  used  again  and  again  the  most 
earnest  and  noble  efforts  to  prevent  a  resort  to  the  sword. 
These  overtures  having  been  proudly  spurned,  and  our 
beloved  South  having  been  threatened  with  invasion  and 
subjugation,  it  seemed  to  me  that  nothing  was  ieft  us 
but  stern  resistance  or  abject  submission,  to  unconstitu- 
tional power.  A  brave  and  generous  people  could  not 
for  a  moment  hesitate  between  such  alternatives.  A 
war  in  defence  of  our  homes  and  firesides — of  our  wives 
and  children — of  all  that  makes  life  worth  possessing,  is 
the  result.  While  I  most  deeply  deplore  the  necessity 
for  the  sacrifice,  I  could  not  but  rejoice  that  I  had  a  son 
to  offer  to  the  service  of  ihe  country,  and  if  I  had  a 
dozen,  I  would  most  freely  give  ihem  all.  As  you  are 
now  cheerfully  enduring  the  hardships  of  the  camp,  I 
know  you  will  listen  to  a  father's  suggestions  touching 
the  duties  of  your  new  mode  of  life. 

I.  Take  special  care  of  your  health.  More  soldiers  die 
of  disease  than  in  battle.  A  thin  piece  of  damp  sponge 
in  the  crown  of  your  hat  during  exposure  to  the  hot 
sun — the  use  of  thick  shoes  and  a  water-proof  coat  in 
rainy  weather  —  the  practice  of  drinking  cold  water 
when  you  are  very  warm  as  slowly  as  you  sip  hot  tea — 
tin*  thorough  mastication  of  your  fool — the  avoiding  of 
damp  tents  and  damp  grounds  during  sleep — and  fre- 
quent ablutions  of  your  person,  are  all  the  hints  I  can 
give  you  on  this  point.  Should  you  need  anything  that 
1  can  supply,  let  me   hear  from   you.      I  will  do  what  I 


~  A   LLTTER  TO  A   SON   IN  CAMP. 

can  to  make  you  comfortable.  After  all,  you  must  learn 
to  endure  hardships  as  a  good  soldier.  Having  never 
slept  a  single  night  in  your  whole  life  except  in  a  pleas- 
ant bed,  and  never  known  a  scarcity  of  good  food,  you 
doubtless  find  the  ways  of  the  camp  rough  ;  but  never 
mind.  The  war,  I  trust,  will  socn  be  over,  and  then  the 
remembrance  of  your  hardships  will  sweeten  the  joy  of 
peace. 

2.  The  rules  of  war  require  prompt  and  unquestion- 
ing obedience.  You  may  sometimes  think  the  com- 
mand arbitrary  and  the  officer  supercilious,  but  it  is 
yours  to  obey.  An  undisciplined  army  is  a  curse  to  its 
friends  and  a  derision  to  its  foes.  Give  your  whole  in- 
fluence, therefore,  !o  the  maintenance  of  lawful  au- 
thority and  of  strict  order.  Let  your  superiors  feel 
as.-ured  that  whatever  they  entrust  to  you  will  be 
faithfully  done.  Composed  of  such  soldiers,  and  led  by 
skilful  and  brave  commanders,  our  army,  by  the  bless- 
ing of  God,  will  never  he  defeated.  It  is,  moreover, 
engaged    in   a  holy   cause,  and   must   triumph. 

.1.  Try  to  maintain  your  Christian  profession  among 
your  comrades.  1  need  not  caution  you  against  strong- 
drink  as  useless  and  hurtful,  nor  against  profanity,  so 
common  among  soldiers.  Both  these  practices  you 
abhor.  Aim  to  take  at  once  a  decided  stand  for  God. 
If  piactjcable  have  prayers  regularly  in  your  tent,  or 
unite  with  your  fellow-disciples  in  prayer  meetings  in 
the  camp.  Should  preaching  be  accessible,  always  be 
a  hearer.  Let  the  world  know  that  you  are  a  Christian. 
Read  a  chapter  in  the  New  Testament,  which  your 
mother  gave  you,  every  morning  and  evening,  when 
you  can,  and  engage  in  secret  prayer  to  God  for  his 
holy  Spirit  to  guide  and  sustain  you.  I  would  rather 
hear  of  your  death  than  of  the  shipwreck  of  your  faith 
and  good  conscience. 

4.  As  you  will  come  into  habitual  contact  witli  men 
of  every  grade,  make  special  associates  only  of  those 
whose  influence  on  your  character  is  felt  to  be  good. 
Some  men  love  to  tell  extravagant  stories — to  indulge 
in  vulgar  wit,  to  exult  in  a  swaggering  carriage,  to  pride 
themselves  on  their  coarse  manners,  to  boast  of  their 
heroism,  and    to   give   utterance   to   feelings  of  revenge 


A   LETTER  TO  A   SON   IN  CAMP.  3 

against  the  enemy.  All  tin's  is  injurious  to  young  and 
impressible  minds.  If  you  admire  such  things,  you  will 
insensibly  imitate  them,  and  imitation  will  work  grad- 
ual but  certain  detriment  to  your  character.  Other  men 
are  refined  without  being  affected.  They  can  relax 
into  occasional  pleasantries  without  violating  modesty. 
They  can  be  loyal  to  their  government,  without  indulg- 
ing private  hatred  against  her  foes.  They  can  be  cool 
and  brave  in  battle,  and  not  be  braggarts  in  the  absence 
of  danger.  Above  all  they  can  be  humble,  spiritual,  and 
active  Christians,  and  yet  mingle  in  the  stirring  and 
perilous  duties  of  soldier  life.  Let  these  be  your  com- 
panions and  models.  You  wiil  thus  return  from  the 
dangers  of  camp   without  a  blemish  on   your  name. 

5.  Should  it  be  your  lot  to  enter  into  an  engagement 
with  the  enemy,  lift  up  your  heart  in  secret  ejaculations 
to  the  ever  present  and  good  Being  tluh  He  will  protect 
you  from  sudden  death,  or  if  you  fall,  that  He  will  re- 
ceive your  departing  spirit,  cleansed  in  the  blood  of 
Jesus,  into  His  kingdom.  It  is  better  to  trust  in  the 
Lord  than  to  put  confidence  in  princes.  Commit  your 
eternal  interests,  therefore,  to  the  keeping  of  the  Al- 
mighty Saviour.  You  should  not,  even  in  the  hour  of 
deadly  conflict,  cherish  personal  rage,  against  the  enemy 
any  more  than  an  oflicer  of  the  law  hates  the  victim  of 
the  law.  How  often  does  a  victorious  army  tenderly 
care  for  the  dead  and  wounded  of  the  vanquished.  War 
is  a  tremendous  scourge  which  Providence  sometimes 
uses  to  chastise  proud  and  wicked  nations.  Both  par- 
ties must  suffer,  even  though  one  may  get  the  advan- 
tage. There  is  no  occasion,  then,  for  adding  to  the 
intrinsic  evils  of  the  system  the  odious  feature  of  ani- 
mosity to  individuals.  Jn  the  ranks  of  the  foe  are 
thousands  of  plain  men  who  do  not  understand  the  prin- 
ciples for  which  we  are  struggling.  They  are  deceived 
by  artful  demagogues  into  a  posture  of  hostility  to  those 
whom,  knowing,  they  would  love.  It  is  against  such 
men  that  you  may  perhaps  be  arrayed,  and  the  laws  of 
war  do  not  forbid  you  to  pity  them  even  in  the  act 
of  destroying  them.  It  is  the  more  important  that  we 
should  exhibit  a  proper  temper  in  this  unfortunate  con- 
test, because  many  professed  Christians  and   ministers 


4  A  LETTER  TO   A   SON  IN  CAMP. 

of  the  gospel  at  the  north,  are  breathing  out,  in  their 
very  prayers  and  sermons,  threatening^  and  slaughter 
against  us.  Oh!  how  painful  that  a  gray-headed  pastor 
should  publicly  exclaim:  "  I  would  hang  them  as  (/nick 
as  I  would  .shoot  a  mad  dog" 

6.  Providence  has  placed  you  in  the  midst  of  thought- 
less and  unpardoned  men.  What  a  beautiful  thing  it 
would  be  if  you  could  win  some  of  them  to  the  Saviour. 
Will  you  not  try?  You  will  have  many  opportunities 
of  saying  a  word  in  season.  The  sick  you  may  com- 
fort— the  wavering  you  may  confirm — the  back-slidden 
you  may  reclaim — the  weary  and  heavy  laden  you  may 
point  to  Jesus  for  rest  to  the  soul.  It  is  not  presump- 
tion for  a  young  man  kindly  and  meekly  to  co  ntnend 
the  gospel  to  his  brother  soldiers.  The  hardest  of  them 
will  not  repel  a  gentle  approach,  made  in  private.  And 
many  of  them  would  doubtless  be  glad  to  have  the  sub- 
ject introduced  to  them.  They  desire  to  hear  of  Jesus, 
but  they  lack  courage  to  inquire  of  his  people.  An  un- 
usually large  proportion  of  pious  men  have  entered  the 
army,  and  I  trust  they  will  give  a  new  complexion  to 
military  life.  Let  them  search  out  each  other,  and 
establish  a  fraternity  among  all  the  worshippers  Of 
God.  To  interchange  religious  views  and  administer 
brotherly  counsel,  will  be  mutually  edifying.  '•  He 
that  watereth  shall   be   watered   also  himself." 

And  now,  as  a  soldier  has  but  little  leisure,  I  will  not 
occupy  you  longer.  Be  assured  that  every  morning  and 
evening  we  remember  you  at  the  family  altar,  to  our 
Father  in  heaven.  We  pray  for  "&  speedy,  just,  and 
honorable  peace,"  and  for  ih  '  safe  return  of  all  the  vol- 
unteers to  their  loved  homes  All  the  children  speak 
often  of  "brother,"  and  hear  your  letters  read  with  in- 
tense interest.  That  God  Almighty  may  be  your  shield 
and  your  exceeding  great  reward,  is  the  constant  prayer 
of  your  loving  father. 


PUBLISHED    BY    THE    SOUTH    CAROLINA    TRACT    SOCIETY. 

Evaus  &  Cogswell,  Eriuters,  No.  3  Broad  Street,  Charleston,  S.  C. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
PH  8.5 


